Statement by the President on the FCC Vote to Modernize the E-Rate

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission took a first, important step toward realizing our vision of making 21st century classrooms available to every student in America. Preparing our nation’s students with the skills they need to get good jobs and compete with countries around the world will rely increasingly on interactive, individualized learning experiences driven by new technology. To get there, we have to build connected classrooms that support modern teaching – investments we know our international competitors are already making. Our ConnectED initiative – which has widespread support from Republicans, Democrats, educators, business and tech leaders and state and local officials – will ensure that the federal government can provide schools with the infrastructure and tools they need to deliver this competitive digital education for every student in the United States. That is the process that the FCC began today, and we look forward to the next steps in this effort as we move closer to our goal of getting 99 percent of America’s students connected to the Internet through high-speed broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years.